Prosecution Rests In Penalty Phase Of Boston Marathon Bombing Trial

U.S. prosecutors have rested their case in the penalty phase of the trial of convicted Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.

The jury is to decide whether the 21-year-old Tsarnaev will be sentenced to death or to life in prison without possibility of parole.

The prosecution rested on April 23 after calling a man who lost a leg in the bombing. During the testimony, a video showed a mother crouched over her 8-year-old son as he lay dying on the sidewalk.

The defense is expected to begin presenting its witnesses on April 27.

Three people were killed and more than 260 wounded when two bombs exploded at the finish of the marathon on April 15, 2013.

Prosecutors have argued that Tsarnaev deserves to be executed for his crimes, while the defense said Tsarnaev was strongly influenced by his radicalized older brother, Tamerlan, who was killed in a gunfight with police days after the attack.